Chapter on Jihad

Jihad in the path of Allah is a collective obligation (fard kifayah) upon the Muslim community — when some members of the community fulfill it sufficiently, the obligation is lifted from the rest. It becomes an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) when an enemy invades Muslim land, when the Imam calls for general mobilization, or when a person finds himself directly confronted by the enemy. Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani presents the Maliki rulings on jihad with the classical juristic precision of his era.

The conditions for jihad to be obligatory on an individual are: Islam, maleness, adulthood (bulugh), sanity, freedom (a slave does not fight without his master's permission), and physical and financial capability. The permission of one's parents is required when jihad is a collective obligation; it is not required when it becomes an individual obligation due to enemy invasion.

The Maliki school holds that the Imam (political-military leader of the Muslim state) has the authority to decide when and how jihad is conducted. Unilateral fighting without the Imam's sanction is not legitimate jihad. The Imam may conclude peace treaties (hudnah) for a specified period when he judges it to be in the interest of the Muslims, and he is responsible for distributing the spoils of war according to the established rules of Islamic law.

Regarding prisoners of war (asra), the Imam has four options according to the Maliki school: executing them if they are combatants who pose a threat, ransoming them for Muslim prisoners or wealth, releasing them freely (mann), or enslaving them. The Imam exercises his judgment based on the public interest (maslahah) of the Muslims and the particular circumstances of each prisoner.

The distribution of war spoils (ghanimah) follows the rules specified in the Quran and Sunnah. One-fifth (khums) is set aside first, to be distributed as described in Surah al-Anfal (verse 41): for Allah and His Messenger, for the near relatives of the Prophet, for orphans, the poor, and travelers. The remaining four-fifths are distributed among the fighters: the infantryman receives one share, and the cavalryman receives two or three shares (scholars differ), in recognition of the additional expense and utility of the horse.

The Maliki school emphasizes that jihad is not limited to armed combat. The broader meaning encompasses striving in the way of Allah through one's wealth, one's tongue (calling to Islam), and one's heart (detesting injustice and falsehood). The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) described the greatest jihad as the striving of a person against his own ego (nafs) in obedience to Allah — though this broader meaning does not diminish the specific rulings on armed jihad in the classical juristic tradition.